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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



FOSTER'S 

Common Sense Leads 

AND HOW TO LEARN THEM 



BY THE AUTHOR OF 



FOSTER'S WHIST MANUAL 



NEW YORK 

BRENTANO'S 



9880 



Copyright, i8g8 
By BRENTANO'S 



All rights reserved 



TWO CCPlfS RECEIVED. 



^^1 ^ 



Qvia77 



rBJEFACJE. 

It has always been the custom to regard the 
method of opening the hand and leading from 
certain combinations of cards, as among the most 
important elements in whist tactics, and it is 
usually toward that part of the subject that the 
attention of the student is first particularly di- 
rected. 

For many years the system of opening leads 
was universally the same, and a player would 
find hands opened in much the same manner in 
all parts of the world. To-day, this is no longer 
the case, and not only are hands opened in dif- 
ferent ways in various parts of the country, but 
dissimilar systems may be found among members 
of the same club. 

The old leads, as they are called, and the 
American leads, which shared the field with 
them for a time, are no longer played in their 
integrity, and in their place has sprung up a sys- 
tem of leads based upon common-sense considera- 
tions of the average value of the hand from 
which the lead is made. What these leads are, 
and how to learn them, it is the purpose of the 
following pages to show. 



Foster's common-sense leads 



OBJECTS OF LJEADING. 



The old theories of leading were based upon a 
very simple process of elimination and selection. 
The first consideration of the player was as to 
whether or not he was strong enough to lead 
trumps, and he was told that if he had fi.YQ of 
them he should invariably do so. Failing such 
strength in the trump suit, the next question to 
decide was as to which of the plain suits was the 
strongest, length being the chief consideration. 
Any suit of four or more cards was available, but 
anything less than four, even if it contained a 
sequence of King Queen Jack, was absolutely out 
of the question. 

As between two suits, one of five and the other 
of four cards, nothing but extreme weakness in 
the longer suit would justify the selection of the 
shorter. In the correspondence tournament, Hand 
No. 6, we find all four players opening with a 
small diamond from J 10 5 3, in preference to 
a small club from 6 5 4 3 2, the other cards 
being two spades. Queen high, and two trumps, 
Jack high ; the King turned. 

Having selected the suit, the next thing was to 
give the partner as accurate a description of it as 



AKD HOW TO LEAE]^ THEM. 5 

possible. The mere fact of leading it showed that 
it was the longest snit in the hand, and the cards 
led on the first and second rounds were selected for 
the purpose of adding as many details as possible. 
The two systems chiefly in use by those who 
still adhere to this theory of opening are the old 
leads, which have come to be known as the 
Foster Leads, because they are still given in 
*' Foster's Manual," although all other text-books 
have ceased to publish them, and the American 
Leads. The Foster Leads are based on the as- 
sumption that information of strength is of more 
importance than information of length, while 
American Leads take the contrary view. From 
the following hands, for instance : 



No. 1. 



No. 2. 



No. 3. 



No. 4. 




* * 
♦ 

^ ♦ 



9? 9? 



2 ^ 



4 »l 



O O 


o o 



6 fostee's commoi^-sense leads 

the Foster Leads start with the King in every 
instance, in order that there may be no doubt 
abont the command of the suit. American Leads 
start with the Jack from the first ; the Queen 
from the second and fourth, and the Ace from 
the third. This makes it impossible for the 
partner to be sure of the command of the suit 
until the second round. 

In the case of the Queen this is especially con- 
fusing, because the partner never knows whether 
it is accompanied by the two cards above it, the 
two below it, or by the King alone. In Hand 
jN'o. 10 of the correspondence tournament, two 
tricks were lost at almost every table by the un- 
certainty of this lead, third hand having none of 
the suit, and not knowing whether to trump the 
Queen or not. 

When high cards are not led, the number in 
suit is shown in the same manner in both systems 
by leading the fourth-best, and the partner is 
able to infer the number of higher cards out 
against the leader by using the eleven rule. 

In both systems the primary object is supposed 
to be to secure the greatest number of tricks pos- 
sible with the combination of cards that the suit 
contains ; but in the Foster Leads the tricks are 
the chief object, while in American Leads, in- 
formation is the main thing. Both considera- 
tions, trick-making and information, start out 



AI^D HOW TO LEAEIT THEM. 7 

with the express condition that the longest suit 
must be led. 

The main point about both these systems of 
leading, and the one in which we are chiefly in- 
terested at present, is the fact that all the con- 
siderations connected with them are confined to 
the suit itself, as it exists in the leader' s hand ; 
and that the leader is obliged to play that suit, 
simply because it is long, and without any regard 
to the consequences. Those who advocate this 
system make no attempt to trace its results, or 
to ascertain the number of tricks lost or won 
simply by leading certain combinations of cards. 
It is accepted as a rule, for instance, that if you 
hold the King Queen Jack of a suit alone it is 
bad policy to lead it ; but if you hold one small 
card in addition, it immediately becomes one of 
the most desirable leads possible. ]^o one seems 
to have stopped to demand the facts in support 
of such an extraordinary claim. 

The objects, therefore, in both these systems 
are confined to two things : Firstly, to show the 
partner the longest suit in the hand simply be- 
cause it is long, and without any regard to its 
intrinsic value as a trick- winner. Secondly, to 
make the best of a bad job by handling the suit 
which the player is forced to open, in such a man- 
ner as to get as many tricks out of it as are possi- 
ble under the restriction that the suit must be led. 



8 ' Foster's commok-sekse leads 

Modern players are heartily sick of this wooden 
arrangement, because they have found that in 
compelling themselves to lead from certain com- 
binations of cards just because a certain number 
of small cards accompany them, they give the 
adversaries a decided advantage in the matter of 
winning tricks in the suit. They have also found 
that the information conveyed to the partner as 
to the details of the individual suit gives him no 
clue as to the possibilities of the hand in other 
suits. 

Common-sense investigation of the results ac- 
tually obtained in whist matches shows that the 
success of a long suit does not depend upon its 
being opened in the first place, nor upon its 
details being demonstrated to the partner, but 
upon its proper management in combination with 
the trumps, which will protect it, and with the 
high cards of other suits, which will bring it in. 
This being so, the mere leading or showing of 
the suit is not enough, or is unnecessary, unless 
it can be led in such a manner as to show its 
possibilities as well as its contents. 

The chief distinctions, then, between the or- 
dinary leads and those which are called Common- 
sense Leads are these : 

The ordinary leads, as given in the text-books, 
proceed upon the theory that the player should 
first select a certain suit, simply on account of 



AND HOW TO LEAEIS" THEM. 9 

its lengfcli, and should then demonstrate to the 
partner as nearly as possible the exact combina- 
tion and number of (3ards that the suit contains, 
without any regard to the remainder of the hand. 
The Common-sense Leads, on the contrary, take 
into consideration the entire hand, and are based 
upon the theory that the value of a long suit 
does not depend so much upon the suit itself as 
upon the trumps and cards of re-entry that ac- 
company it. It is therefore necessary, in order 
to secure the effective co-operation of the part- 
ner, to show him not only the strength or weak- 
ness of the suit itself, but the general character- 
istics of the hand of which that suit forms a part. 



TUB COJ^niTIOJSS OF 8VCCES8. 



Common- sense Leads are divided into two 
classes: offensive and defensive. The offensive 
leads are made with a view to getting more out 
of the suit than its average value, which will 
require that some other suit shall make less than 
its average value. Defensive leads are made with 
a view to getting the best results from certain 
combinations of high cards, by taking advantage 
of position, especially that favorable for finesse 
9^nd tenace.. 



10 FOSTEE'S g^MMO^-SElS'SE LEADS '^ 

The attack requires the hand to Jbe played as a 
unit, each suit being consid^ed\iia relation to the 
other suits and to the trumps. The most impor- 
tant elements in the attacking game are the leads 
and returns, the management of the trump suit, 
and the preservation of the cards of re-entry. 

The defence requires nothing but the careful 
management of each individual suit, especially 
those upon which an attack is made by the ad- 
versaries. The most important elements in the 
defensive game are the preservation of tenaces 
and guarded cards, finessing, and second hand 
play. 

The conditions of success in the attacking game 
are superior strength, either in high cards or in 
trumps, and the player's efforts are usually di- 
rected to securing a trick-taking value for certain 
small cards which they do not naturally possess. 
This is done by establishing a suit, exhausting 
the adverse trumps, and then, bringing the es- 
tablished suit into play. 

The conditions for success in the defensive 
game are that the adversaries shall be placed in 
such a position that they will be compelled to 
lead to their disadvantage, and will be prevented 
from deriving the full benefit of their superior 
strength. This is done by keeping guards on the 
weak suits, and by making the trumps separately. 

It is a well-established fact that the average 



A]^D HOW TO LEAEN THEM. 11 

value of a plain suit is two and a quarter tricks, 
because an average of six and a quarter tricks 
falls to the trumps, leaving six and three-quarters 
to be divided among the three plain suits. In 
order to make more than the average number of 
tricks out of any plain suit, therefore, it will be 
necessary to get the adverse trumps out of its 
way, and to get the suit into play after they are 
gone. 

To accomplish this, as already pointed out, we 
must reduce the average value of some other 
suit. The number of tricks in the trump suit 
may be reduced to four or ^yq by leading trumps, 
so that they all fall together. The number of 
tricks in a plain suit may be reduced to one, or 
even to nothing, if the suit can be shut out by 
bringing in the established cards of another suit. 
The reverse of this proposition is to increase the 
value of the trnmp suit by making the trumps 
separately, which naturally reduces the value of 
all the plain suits ; or to reduce the value of any 
individual suit by making the high cards of each 
suit as rapidly as possible, before any long suit 
can be brought into play as established. 

When the conditions are favorable to success, 
it is the object of the Common-sense Leads to 
take immediate advantage of them ; but when 
they are not favorable, the Common-sense Leads 
are so arranged as to adapt themselves to the cir- 



13 FOSTEE'S COMMOIS'-SENSE LEADS 

cumstances and become defensive. In either 
event, tlie partner is enconraged or warned, as 
the case may be, so that there shall be no mis- 
understanding as to the mutual possibilities of 
the two hands. 

This naturally divides our subject into two 
parts — attacking leads and defensive leads— and 
each must be considered separately. 



OFFJEWSIVB LEADS. 



The two groups of leads, offensive and defen- 
sive, are each divided into three classes, forming 
six distinct types. These begin with those which 
are the most uncommon, because they depend on 
the possession of unusual strength ; and end with 
those which are the most frequent, because they 
occur in the great majority of hands. 

The three classes of offensive leads are : 

1. Those in which the player begins with the 
trumps. 

2. Those in which the suit is shown before 
leading the trumps. 

3. Those in which the suit must be established 
before leading the trumps. 

All these leads, it will be observed, turn upon 
the proper time for leading trumps, and the 



AND HOW TO LEAEN THEM. 13 

trump attack is thus easily inferred to be tlie 
foundation of all offensive leads. 

As already pointed out, all Common-sense 
Leads depend upon a consideration of the pos- 
sibilities of the entire hand, and not upon the 
length or combination of cards in any individual 
suit. The chief thing, therefore, is to study the 
general character of the hand, and the style of 
treatment which is probably best suited to it as 
a whole. A little practice in this systematic 
analysis and classification will soon enable a 
player to recognize any given hand as belonging 
to a certain group and demanding a certain open- 
ing, in accordance with its possibilities, which 
are based on the most probable or usual distri- 
bution of the cards in the other hands. In the 
following pages it is proposed to examine each 
of these groups separately, pointing out the rea- 
sons for handling it in a certain way. 



TMUMT'LEADING HAJ^nS. 



Trumps should be led from all hands which 
contain a card of re-entry in each of the plain 
suits. 

Cards of re-entry are those which are reason- 
ably certain to win tricks in the suit, or will 



14 Foster's coMMOi^-SEivrsE leads 

probably stop it on the first or second round. 
Aces are tlie best ; combinations of King and 
Queen, or King Jack and small cards, come 
next. Sequences of Queen Jack Ten are stop- 
pers, but they are not re-entries in the proper 
. sense of the word^ because the suit may go round 
twice before the Queen can stop it, and the Queen 
may then be ruffed and lost. Singly-guarded 
Kings are not considered cards of re-entry, because 
they may be led through and killed ; but they 
may become such during the play of the hand if 
the Ace falls. A Queen, or even a Queen and 
Jack together, are never considered cards of re- 
entry, however well guarded ; but if two suits 
contain re-entry cards and the third has a sure 
stopper, such as the sequence of Queen Jack Ten, 
the hand undoubtedly demands an immediate 
lead of trumps, such as the following, for in- 
stance. Hearts are trumps in this and all follow- 
ing hands. 

(J?K10 2; 4tA10 3; 0KJ5; 4QJ10 4 

Trumps should be led from all hands which 
contain two suits already established, even if the 
third suit is entirely missing ; in fact, the weaker 
this third suit is the better, for reasons which 
will presently appear. 

Established suits are those in which you and 



AND HOW TO LEAEI^ THEM. 



15 



your partner may reasonably expect to take 
three or more tricks, if not every trick in the 
suit. If the suit consists of four cards only, it 
must contain at least four honors, counting the 
Ten as one, which will require it to be headed by 
one or other of the following combinations : 



No. 1. 



ISTo. 2. 



JN-o. 3. 




These combinations are so strong that a player 
will not hold them more than once in twenty-five 
deals. 

If the trumps accompanying such hands are 
weak, and the player is unlikely to win either 
the second or third round, it is usually safer and 
better to show the suit first by leading it once. 
This will prevent the possibility of your part- 
ner's leading your weak or missing suit if he 
should be in the lead after the trumps have been 
exhausted, or the time has come to force the 
adversary. 



16 



FOSTER'S COMMON-SENSE LEADS 



From each of the foregoing combinations, the 
proper lead is the King, no matter how many- 
cards the suit contains, because the King, fol- 
lowed by a trump lead, always shows complete 
command of the suit or a willingness to take a 
finesse on the second round. Suits headed by 
Ace Queen Jack Ten should not be shown. 

Trumps should be led from hands containing 
one suit practically established, if accompanied 
by another suit which can probably be estab- 
lished in one lead, provided this second suit 
contains five or more cards. Such suits should 
be headed by at least three honors, which will 
require them to contain some one of the follow- 
ing combinations : 



ISTo. 1. 



]N[0. 2. 



No. 3. 



No. 4. 




AND HOW TO LEARN THEM. 17 

A player will hold such combinations about 
once in twelve deals. 

If the player is weak in tramps, he may show 
his suit first by leading the King ; but he must 
be willing to lead trumps after being forced in 
his weak suit if he loses the first round of the 
suit in which he has not the Ace. Such hands 
as the following belong to this class : 

(J}A63; ^AKJ32; OKQ10 93 
^J10 6; *AQJ83; 0AKQ9; ^6 
^QJ;*AK10 93; O^QJIO; ^32 

If one suit is practically established and the 
other contains but one card of re-entry, the 
player should hold at least four trumps to justify 
an original opening from the trump suit, such 
hands as the following being good examples : 

<^K10 63; ♦AKQ973; OKQ; ^6 
^QJ42; *AKQJ2; 0A73; ^J 
^10 863; *AKQ10 2; OKJIO; 4^ 

In the third, the trumps being weak, the suit 
should be shown first by leading it once. 
Unestablished suits of five or more cards, 



18 



FOSTEE S COMMON-SENSE LEADS 



headed by two honors only, should be accom- 
panied by at least two cards of re-entry and four 
trumps to justify an original lead of trumps. 
Such suits should be headed by some one of the 
following combinations : 



INTO. 1. 



No. 2. 



No. 3. 



No. 4. 



No. 5. 



No. 6. 




4> 4* 

4> «!■ 
















^ 9? 



4- 'I' 



4. ^ 







OP 







<0 




^ ^ 




-^ 


♦ 




^ 


^ «^ 




^ 


^ <^ 




^ 


(? cy 




9? 



A player will hold such combinations only 
about once in six deals. 
As it will probably take two rounds to estab- 



AJS^D HOW TO LEAEN THEM. 19 

lisli such suits, the original opening from each of 
them should be a small card, which shows the 
necessity for two cards of re-entry, the first com- 
bination being perhaps the only exception. * If 
these two re-entry cards are in different suits, 
trumps should be led regardless of number, be- 
cause all such belong to our first group of trump- 
leading hands. If the re-entry cards are both in 
the same suit there should be four trumps, as in 
the following examples : 

^K10 63; *AK982; 0AK2; ^10 
^AJ32; ♦KQ864; OAQJ; 4^5 
<^Q10 93; *AQ642; OKQJIO 

The chief distinction to be made is that be- 
tween hands which are strong enough to give the 
player a reasonable chance for success with 
average strength in his partner's hand, and those 
in which he is weak in trumps himself, although 
he may have four of them. In the first he may 
begin with the trump suit immediately ; but in 
the second he is depending so much on his part- 
ner's assistance that it will be safer first to show 
the suit for which the trumps are about to be 
led. The general expectation is, that when you 
have two honors in trumps, counting the Ten as 
one, your partner's share is one of the three re- 



20 Foster's commoj^-sense leads 

maining, so that if you count on three honors 
between you, you are playing in accordance with 
probability. 



WEAK on MISSIWG SUITS. 



The element of one very weak, or even entirely 
missing, suit should be no obstacle to leading 
trumps, because a player may always finesse 
against a suit just as he may finesse against a 
card. The weaker you are in a suit the more 
chances there are that the suit will be pretty 
equally distributed among the three other play- 
ers and that your partner will get his share of it, 
which will usually be enough to protect or stop it. 

The important principle to be remembered in 
this connection is, that the less cards you have of 
a suit which you wish your partner to protect 
the better, because there are more cards of the 
suit to be distributed, and more will probably 
fall to his share. If you are long and weak in a 
suit, the chances of your partner' s being able to 
protect it are much less, because there are fewer 
cards for him to hold. In such hands as the fol- 
lowing, for instance : 

^K10 3;*AKJ10 62; 0AK42 
^A643; AAKQJ; OA; ^8645 



AIS^D HOW TO LEARI^ THEM. 21 

there is a mncli better chance for your partner 
to stop the spade suit in the first than in the 
last, because in the first hand his share of the 
suit will be four or five cards, including two 
honors, while in the second it will be three cards 
only, with the probability that four honors in 
the suit are against him. 



SMOTS. 



In many hands in which one suit is exception- 
ally strong a player may take what is called a 
" shot," in the hope of fitiding his partner with 
suflScient strength to make the suit. Shot plays 
usually consist in leading a trump from four of 
them without any re-entry cards, or from very 
weak trumps with a re-entry card. Take the fol- 
lowing hand, for instance : 

^J6; *AKQJ64; OA32; 4^54 

You have only one re-entry card and are very 
weak in trumps, but have a suit of tremendous 
possibilities if it could only be brought in. Such 
hands are sufficiently uncommon to justify ex- 
ceptional treatment, and many players believe it 
best to take a shot on them and lead the trumps, 
even without showing the suit first. If partner 



23 Foster's common-sense leads 

proves able to exhaust the trumps, the suit can 
usually be shown by discarding both the others. 
With four trumps, but no re-entry, the same 
chance may be taken, as in the following exam- 
ple: 

^ K J 10 3 ; * A K Q 10 8 7 3 ; 10 4 

There is no possibility of re-entry except in the 
trump suit itself ; but if the adverse trumps can 
be exhausted, or if the player can remain with 
the lead on the third round of them, so as to get 
the first force on a possible four-trump hand, he 
must make every one of his clubs. 

These shots are pure gambles, in which the 
player starts with the knowledge that the odds 
are greatly against him ; but it should be remem- 
bered that the tricks to be gained in case of suc- 
cess far outweigh those which may be lost in case 
of failure. As a rule, nothing is lost by leading 
trumps from such a hand, except a possible ruff 
in the missing suit. 



LOWG'SUIT LEADIJS^G HANDS. 



When we come to suits which are not suffi- 
ciently strong or well protected by cards of re- 
entry to justify an original lead of trumps, we 



a:n^d how to learn them. 23 

must establish, the suit first if we hope to make 
more out of it than its average value of two and 
a quarter tricks. 

There are two general principles governing the 
long-suit leads : 

Suits of less than five cards are not worth play- 
ing for as long suits unless they contain at least 
four honors, counting the Ten as one ; and even 
suits of ^ve or more cards in which the player 
cannot win both the second and third rounds, or 
is not willing to take a finesse on the second 
round, so as to retain the command until the 
third, are not worth playing for. 

Long suits which, are not accompanied by 
either trump strength or re-entry cards are not 
worth playing for as long suits, no matter how 
strong they are. That is to say, a player should 
not expect to make more than two tricks out 
of them, which is the long-suit idea, and must 
cheerfully face the prospect of having the adver- 
saries ruff them. Of course, he may make more 
than two tricks in such suits ; but if he does, it 
will be due to the peculiar distribution of the 
cards, and not to any good management on his 
part. 

In order to make a long suit worth playing for, 
it should be accompanied by at least average 
strength ; because if it is not, you are attempt- 
ing the old folly of playing a strong game with 



24 Foster's commois^-sense leads 

a weak hand. This strength should be three or 
four trumps, and as many cards of re-entry as 
will probably be necessary to get the suit estab- 
lished and bring it into play, with reasonable 
assistance from your partner. 

A proper understanding of this principle is 
very important in connection with the study of 
Common-sense Leads, because it enables us to dis- 
tinguish between hands in which a comparatively 
weak suit has a better chance of success, because 
it is accompanied by several re-entry cards, than 
a stronger suit would have when accompanied by 
only one card of re-entry. Take the following 
hands, for example : 

^J72; ♦KSS; OK 10 964; 4 10 2 
<;3?10 93; *KQ3; OQ10 542; ^AJ 

It will probably take at least two leads to es- 
tablish the long suit in either of these hands. In 
the first this second lead may be secured at the 
expense of the only re-entry card, or that card 
may be forced out before the trumps can be ex- 
hausted. In the second, on the contrary, even if 
two leads should be required to develop the 
hand, one card of re-entry must be left intact. 

In the first hand the suit is really not worth 
playing for as a long suit, because the probabili- 



AI^D HOW TO LEAEK THEM. 25 

ties are decidedly against getting more than two 
tricks ont of it; bat in the second hand there 
is a very reasonable chance of bringing in the 
snit, in spite of the apparent weakness in the 
trumps. 



36 Foster's common-sei^se leads 



DBFENSIVB LEADS. 



The defensive leads may be divided into three 
principal groups : 

1. Those in which the player makes all the 
tricks he can while he is in the lead. 

2. Those in which he leads weak snits or 
trumps, in order to avoid leading away from cer- 
tain combinations of honors in other weak or 
short suits. 

3. Those in which he leads supporting cards, in 
order to warn his partner to protect himself, and 
to give him opportunities to finesse. 

Each of these may be briefly examined in order 
to show the peculiarities of the hands from which 
such leads are usually selected. 



MUNNINa. 



In the first group, in which the player's chief 
object is to make hay while the sun shines, the 
most desirable leads are from sequences of high 
cards in suits which are not accompanied by any 



AND HOW TO LEAETT THEM. 



27 



trump strength or cards of re-entry, 
binations are the following : 



Such com- 




The shorter these suits are in the leader's hand 
the better, because that will increase the proba- 
bility of their going round several times ; other- 
wise the number of small cards does not affect 
the lead, because the object is not to establish 
any small cards, but only to get tricks with the 
higher ones. It cannot be too strongly impressed 
on the student that any attempt to get more than 
two tricks out of a plain suit must be based on 
the assumption that the suit can be protected 
by strength in trumps, and brought into play 
by cards of re-entry. If these elements do not 
exist, the most Judicious course for the player to 
adopt is to run for it, and make what tricks he 
can before the adversaries bring their superior 
forces to bear and get their long suits into play, 
which might result in shutting out his suit alto- 
gether. 

When running for it in this manner, the top 
of the sequence should always be led. The Ace 
is never led from a suit of Ace and small cards 
only, for reasons which will presently be ex- 
plained. 



28 FOSTEE's COMMON-SEIS'SE LEADS 

If the sequence is a winning sequence, and the 
suit is also long, it is often a good plan not to 
lead the suit more than once until you have given 
your partner a chance to come to your assistance 
if he has anything. Although you may have no 
re-entry or trumps yourself, there is always the 
possibility that your partner may be strong. If 
you go right along with your suit until it is 
ruffed, and no one has any more of it to put you 
in with, your hand is absolutely worthless. For 
this reason, many players will not pursue a win- 
ning sequence except in a short suit, but treat 
the hand as a shot. With a suit of five or six 
cards, for instance, headed by Ace King Queen, 
they lead the King to show their strength, and 
then demonstrate to their partner the necessity 
for his assistance if anything more than the 
average is to be made out of such a suit. 

The usual continuation in such defensive leads 
is a supporting card, or the highest card of the 
second-best suit, as in the following hand : 

^7 3; * AKQ108 3; J 10 ; 4 6 43 

By following the Club King with the Jack of 
Diamonds the partner is informed that the leader 
has a great Club suit, too good to go on with, 
but that he has no possible re-entry, and is very 
weak in trumps ; too weak to take a shot with 



AIS^D HOW TO LEAEN THEM. 



29 



them even. This style of opening gives the 
partner an opportunity to come to the assistance 
of the strong suit if he can, which would be im- 
, possible if the player went on with it until the 
adversaries ruffed it. If a supporting Jack or 
Queen, led from a secondary short suit in this 
manner, should hold the trick, it is needless to 
say that a trump lead should follow at once. 

Some players will not give the partner this 
chance, but go on with the suit in the hope of 
finding the partner short, and giving him dis- 
cards. This may secure three tricks in the suit, 
but never more. 

When a long suit is headed by only one or two 
winning cards, such as the following combina- 
tions : 



]Sro. 1. 



No. 2. 




unaccompanied by any re-entry or trump 
strength, it is usually best to go right along and 
make what tricks you can before the adversaries 
get any chance to discard. 



30 Foster's coMMOis^-SEisrsE leads 



SUBrOBTING-CABJ) LEADS. 



When a suit is not headed by any sequence of 
high cards, but contains two or three honors not 
in sequence, the manner of handling it depends 
entirely upon the rest of the hand. If there is 
any chance for the suit, as when it is accom- 
panied by cards of re-entry or trump strength, 
we have already seen that the player should 
begin with a small card, and try to get it estab- 
lished. If there is no such chance, it will be 
better not to touch such suits at all, because they 
have two chances if they are not opened in the 
first place. 

The first chance is, that some of the other play- 
ers may get the trumps going about the middle 
of the hand, not knowing you hold a strong 
tenace suit perhaps. After the smoke of the 
battle over the trumps has cleared away, your 
suit will have a clear field, one of the great ob- 
stacles to its success, your weakness in trumps, 
being no longer a factor in the problem. This is 
a very important consideration, and sadly over- 
looked, even by our best players. 

The other chance is, that your adversaries may 
be long in the suit and may attempt to establish 
it, not knowing you are strong in it, in which 



AT^D HOW TO LEAEN THEM. 



31 



case your high cards, especially if not in se- 
quence, may prove very valuable as stoppers and 
killers, and may give you a good finesse against 
a strong hand on your right. 

From all such combinations as the following, 
whether the suit is long or short, the lead is very 
disadvantageous unless the suit is accompanied 
by trump strength or re-entry cards. 




A player will hold one of these combinations 
about seven times in ten hands, except the first, 
which will come about once in thirty hands. 

In order to avoid such leads, and also to warn 
your partner that your suit, even if you have one, 
has no reasonable chance for success with only 



32 



fostee's commois'-sense leads 



average strength in Ms hand, it is best to select 
a supporting card from the top of a shorter and 
weaker suit. When you have no suit at all, such 
leads answer the same purpose of warning. 

The combinations which are valuable as sup- 
porting-card leads are of three kinds, shortness 
in the suit being the chief requisite : 

1. Those of three cards, headed by two good 
supporting cards in sequence, such as the follow- 
ing : 




M 










*** 




* 4. 

4. 4- 



The player will hold these only about once in 
three hands. 

2. Suits of two cards only, containing one or 
two good supporting cards, such as the follow- 
ing: 




m 


4.^4. 
*A* 




oOo 


O 

0^0 







♦ ♦ 

♦ ♦ 










0% 









These are the most desirable of all supporting 
leads, but a player will not hold more than one 
of them in every four hands, 



AND HOW TO LEAEIS- THEM. 33 

3. Singletons, wMcli are any card below a 
King. Many players dislike to lead a singleton 
wMch is lower than a 7, because it might be taken 
for a strong snit unless the fall of the cards to 
the first trick was such as to show the partner 
that the original leader could not have held two 
honors in the suit, and was not trying to estab- 
lish it. In actaal practice, however, such an 
error can never occur except between wooden 
partners, because if a player starts with a small 
card in order to establish his suit, his partner 
should not try to get out the trumps until he 
knows the suit is established, which it cannot be, 
except in the partner' s hand, if a singleton is led. 

Singletons are held about once in three deals, 
but if a player will not lead anything below a 7 
or above a Queen, he will hold such singletons 
only about once in six deals. On the other hand, 
the cases are extremely rare in which the lowest 
card of an unestablished suit of ^ve, containing 
two honors, is not below a 7. 



34 fostee's commojs^-seis^se leads 



EBMOJSrJEOUS IDEAS. 



Many persons fall into tlie error of supposing 
that sliort snits sliould be led with the deliberate 
intention of ruffing them on the second or third 
round. While a player may be willing to take 
advantage of his opportunities to make his small 
trumps separately from his partner's in this 
manner, that is not the primary object of the 
lead, because every player starts his weak suit 
in the hope that his partner will prove strong in 
it. It is only when he is disappointed in this 
that he is ready to ruff the suit which neither he 
nor his partner can protect. The short-suit open- 
ing is chiefly useful in warning the partner that 
the opener has not a long-suit hand, or is not 
strong enough to expect to make more than the 
average number of tricks in any suit, even with 
reasonable assistance from his partner. 

All leads from suits of more than three cards 
containing single honors are very bad, unless the 
honor is the Ace and the player is sufficiently 
strong to risk both leading a low card in the first 
place, and finessing any good card his partner 
may lead him on the return. It can be demon- 
strated that simply by leading away from single 



AWD HOW TO LEARIS^ THEM. 35 

honors, such as King or Queen, the adversaries 
are given a decided advantage in position, which 
will secure them about fifty -five tricks out of 
every hundred in the suit opened, without 
trumping. As this is a difference of twenty per 
cent, in their favor, it is great odds to play 
against. 

It is continually urged by those who have never 
given the matter the attention it deserves that by 
leading a short suit, especially if it is weak, you 
will probably establish that suit in the hands of 
the adversary. There are two considerations in 
connection with this theory : The first is, that 
by leading the suit up to your right-hand adver- 
sary you do not give him any advantage that he 
would not have had in any case, unless your 
partner puts up an honor and gets it killed. The 
second is, that the sujjporting card is especially 
designed to prevent this very thing, and to give 
him a chance to keep his good cards. The play- 
ers that object to the short-suit opening will lead 
a small card from a long weak suit, which ex- 
poses their partners' honors to the very fate from 
which the supporting card would save them. It 
is also claimed that you give the adversary a 
great advantage by exposing your weakness. 
Would not that weakness be much more seriously 
exposed if your partner led the suit to you and 
you could not do better than a nine third hand ? 



36 Foster's common-seis^se leads 

You are no more likely to establish in the 
hands of the adversaries a suit in which you are 
short than one in which you have four or five 
cards to a single honor. By leading the short 
suit to your partner you secure the great advan- 
tage of preventing him from leading it to you, 
and you also advise him in time to protect him- 
self in it. By leading long weak suits from un- 
protected hands you frequently kill your part- 
ner's good cards, and give the adversaries all the 
advantage of the position. 

No fact is more firmly established from the 
experience of those who know how to manage 
supporting cards than that more weak long suits 
are made by not leading them than can possibly 
be made by opening them in the first place. It 
must be clearly understood, of course, that the 
partner is to take every advantage of his position 
when he is thus fairly warned by the opening 
lead. If the third hand holds Ace and small 
cards only of a suit in which anything from an 
8 to a Queen is led to him, it is his duty to pass 
the first trick, whether the second hand covers 
or not. By this means he keeps control of the 
adversaries' suit, and as the majority of such 
leads are from two-card suits the adversaries 
cannot safely return them, because that would 
allow the original third hand to put on the Ace 
and then force his partner. The great mistake 



AND HOW TO LEARI^ THEM. 37 

made by those who attempt to play short suits is 
that they do not take the warnings their partners 
give them. They do not keep control of the suits 
their partners ask them to defend. They do not 
place the adversaries at the disadvantage which 
the lead intends. 

If the third hand holds King and small cards 
when a supporting card is led to him he should 
invariably pass it, even if the second hand covers. 
'No good player holding Ace Queen, for instance, 
will finesse against his partner, second hand, by 
putting the Queen on the Jack led, so that third 
hand, holding King under such circumstances, 
will know to a certainty that the only way to lose 
it is to put it on the Queen, and he should never 
do so unless he has the 9 or 10 and others with 
the King. 

If a player will not take a warning, there is no 
use leading him warning cards ; if he will not 
take a finesse which is offered to him, there is no 
use leading him finessing cards ; and if he will 
not protect himself, there is no use leading him 
supporting cards. 

The shorter you are in a suit the better your 
partner's chances for successful finesse, because 
the greater the probability that the adversaries 
are both long in the suit, and your partner is 
therefore not so likely to lose any good cards 
that he may hold up in finessing. On this ac- 



38 Foster's coMMOisr-SENSE leads 

count, it is very bad policy to lead your partner 
a supporting card from tlie top of a long weak 
suit, such as a 10 at the head of four or ^ve small 
cards, because it tempts him to finesse in a suit 
which will probably not go round a second time, 
and therefore leaves him no room in which to 
manoeuvre. The shorter and weaker you are in 
a suit, the better your partner's chances to be 
strong in it. That is the fundamental principle 
of all supporting- card leads. 

A player should never open a three-card suit in 
which he has not at least two supporting cards in 
sequence, or one card as good as the Jack or 10, 
because it is folly to lead a suit in which you 
can accomplish nothing, and can neither give 
your partner a good finesse nor ruff the third 
round if the suit is against you. If any card 
below a 10 is opened by the original leader, it 
should be absolutely certain to the third hand 
that the suit is one of two cards only. If the 
player has no such suit in his hand, it is usually 
better to lead the trumps, simply as a matter of 
defence, for if a player has three of each suit, he 
cannot ruif anything, and there is no other use 
for the trumps but to lead them. 

The partner will usually have no difficulty in 
seeing that such a trump lead is not an attack, 
but is made in order to avoid leading from what 
is called a ''split hand." If he is strong in 



AND HOW TO LEAEN THEM. ' 39 

trumps, little harm can be done by his going on ; 
if the adversaries are strong and ought to lead 
trumps, they will often be alarmed by your 
trump opening, and will let their opportunity 
pass. 

When a player holds two three-card suits, 
almost alike, such as 10 9 and small in each, with 
no good suit, it is usually bad policy to guess 
between these two suits, and better to make a 
defensive trump lead, although some persons 
do not think so, and insist on leading the one 
next their thumb. 

The development of the hand in the afterplay, 
and the proper management of the cards held by 
the partner and adversaries when playing with 
or against common-sense openings, cannot be 
touched upon even in a work which is devoted 
exclusively to the leads, but in " Common Sense 
in Whist " the student will find complete details 
of the whole system of common-sense play, both 
in long suits and in short. 



<w^ " 



JUL d 1898 



LIBRPRY OF CONGRESS 




fn^. 



